Sneaky devil, that Kobe Bryant.

The smaller, but equally skilled, half of the NBA's most powerful one-two punch waited until late in the third quarter to take over yesterday's game at the Air Canada Centre.

After all, he said, why show your best stuff when it's not necessary. Why not save it for, say, a critical juncture, when you can rattle off 12 straight points for your team and put away an easy 109-89 victory, as Bryant did for the Los Angeles Lakers yesterday over the Toronto Raptors.

"You go through the game, you just read the defence," said Bryant, who scored a game-high 31 points. "For example, if you see a gap in the first couple of minutes, it might not be wise to attack at that time but you know the crack is there so you come back to it at some crucial point in the game."

A time like when the Raptors had crept back to within 10 points with just over 2 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter. But almost as fast as you can say "two-time NBA champion" Bryant rattled off a dozen straight points, the Lakers were up by 14 and the game was effectively over.